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Re: 10 years later: Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects of 1998

Looks to me like being in the top 20 is a pretty good sign that you'll be a decent major leaguer. After that, it's a total crapshoot. That said, I find it interesting that the best players are fairly well distributed throughout that list, with some of the very best towards the bottom.

Games are won on run differential -- scoring more than your opponent. Runs are runs, scored or prevented they all count the same. Worry about scoring more and allowing fewer, not which positions contribute to which side of the equation or how "consistent" you are at your current level of performance.

Re: 10 years later: Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects of 1998

It's a good reality check for those that think that Bailey, Cueto, Votto and Bruce are all going to be stars at the major league level. It's a nice dream but the odds of it happening are very, very long.

Not to nitpick, but I'd probably rate Grieve closer to a B than a D. He played for 9 seasons, won Rookie of the Year in '98, and had 4 full seasons with an OPS+ of 111 or better (123, 118, 116, and 111) with a career OPS+ of 113.

Re: 10 years later: Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects of 1998

Originally Posted by fearofpopvol1

I like the fact that at the time the list was printed, the Reds had 1 in the entire top 100. Damian Jackson. I don't even remember him. Was he any good?

He never did anything with the Reds but he was included in the Greg Vaughn trade. He's bounced around a lot but did play quite a bit with Boston a few years back. Take a wild guess who he played for last in 2006!

Oops sava beat me to it...

"In our sundown perambulations of late, through the outer parts of Brooklyn, we have observed several parties of youngsters playing 'base', a certain game of ball. Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our close rooms, the game of ball is glorious"
-Walt Whitman

Re: 10 years later: Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects of 1998

I think lists like this are unfair to some prospects. While they do show that prospects are difficult to predict, it is unfair to compare a consensus top 10 prospect who has played well in AA and AAA to a guy like Matt White or Ruben Mateo, who were ranked based on projection even though they hadn't broken A ball yet.

I'll take my chances with our four. Blanton and the rest of them can stay where they are. Just make sure that the team around Votto, Bruce, Homer and Cueto is ready in a few years. Because they will be.

Re: 10 years later: Baseball America's Top 100 Prospects of 1998

Originally Posted by Chip R

I count 12 guys that JimBo acquired while he was here.

He had a 1998 fetish. He acquired three first rounders from the 1998 draft too (in addition to the guy he picked, Austin Kearns). A fifth 1998 first rounder, Bubba Crosby, also played for the Reds. In all I count 17 guys for the '98 top 100 who've been through the Reds organization.

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